From: Port Augusta (SA)
To: Wudinna (SA)
Via: Pildappa (1500 million year old granite rock formation)
Distance: 467km
Highlight: Feeling very young standing next to 1500 million year old Pildappa
Low: We saw a beautiful Emu cross the road, running straight into a car with caravan coming from the opposite direction. It was awful.
Statement of the day: By Tom on the way back to Port Augusta after a huge stone hit our windscreen “I’m so happy that we are almost at our next stop……”
Animals: Sheep (hundreds), Emus (15), Dead Emus (1) L, Tadpoles (swimming in the waterholes in Pildappa rock) (86), Galas (17), Magpies (7), Flies (not too many), Mice (0, only warnings to keep our car and motel room door closed….)
Surroundings: Red stony earth with green bushes and umbrella trees, two huge open iron mines, endless grain fields, huge grain silo's in every little town.
Cars: Average of 10/hour, including road trains
Giant animal statues: One, The Big Gala in Kimba
Colours: Silver of the morning, black and red of the tarmac, green and red of the earth and bushes, deep blue of the sky, red red red of Pildappa rock, white of Simons face being carsick…….
Average day temperature: 9C in the morning and bright, 21C in the afternoon very sunny no clouds.
I’m sitting in the motel room of tonight’s
motel, wondering if this blog will make it today. We have internet, but it is
very slow. It is quite amazing that we have internet at all, considering how
remote we are. I cannot guarantee photo's today. Outside the sky is deep black with the Milky Way and the
Southern Cross bright and clear. The temperature is decreasing fast, we put the
heater on and it blows our maps and folders through the motel room.
We drove much further than planned today as
about 50km after leaving Port Augusta a huge stone hit our windscreen. We
stopped the car and hesitated. In our minds we are already hiking to Organ Pipes
in the Gawler ranges, 250km down the road. But we are conscious of the risks of
having a hug chip in the windscreen. So we turn the car and drive back to Port
Augusta to get it fixed.
We find a windscreen fixer in no time. And
even better, the screen is fixed in 15 minutes PLUS we get a set of windscreen
band-aids in case it happens again.
Happy with our decision to get it fixed we
do go to the bakery that we avoided this morning because of time constraints.
We lost so much time already anyway….
Then we stick to part of the plan and drive
straight to Pildappa, the stunning 1500 million year old granite rock, located
in the middle of grass and grain fields. It is a mystical yet beautiful place
and compared to the age of this rock, we feel young. The rock is bright red and
radiates a pleasant warmth. The air breathes ancient times, eucalypt and hay.
The rock formation is the second largest wave rock in Australia. We climb it,
touch it, sit on it and feel its significance. I can’t get my head around its age.
The day quickly comes to an end and with
the sun setting we want to drve to the motel quickly because we have only one
fear. And that is hitting an animal on the road. They come out at this time of
the day.
Of course we stop at the jumping pillow in
Wudinna and do a walk around the quiet town. Everybody greets us with smiles
and waves. It must be unusual to see a family walk around like that. We did not
see any-one walk. In this empty little town you drive.
The motel is basic but clean and well
stocked on the instant coffee. We feel at home immediately. Kids pick their
beds and kick a ball. The only sound is the television of the next door neighbours. And the occasional road train thundering past.
Life is good. We feel very fortunate.
On the way back to Port Augusta
We don't take ourselves too seriously ;-)
Pildappa, ancient!
"Old" gets a different perspective.
Wudinna play ground.
Wudinna.
End of day 4:-)
